We’ve all been there before. It’s the aftermath of Ghost and Angela’s breakup and we begin last night’s episode, Don’t Go with the familiar emotions of hurt and regret. Anyone who has been in love and had their heart broken knows these feelings. Ghost is having a dream in which he is talking to Angela and explaining why he had to do it and of course in his dream she “understands.” He tells her he will fix it, and she acknowledges that he will. As he leaves the bed she says “don’t go.” Another phrase you have either uttered or heard if you’ve ever gone through a breakup. This is Ghost’s subconscious, he hopes Angela will understand and all will be forgiven. It’s also what he is telling himself to assuage the guilt he feels for hurting Angela.
Poor Angela, she is devastated over the breakup. Her sister Paz is comforting her and telling her Ghost is an asshole and she doesn’t need him. Angela is trying to rationalize, what she believes to be an emotional decision. We all know how that goes, and Angela is looking back over every decision and wondering if it was all worth it. The scenario is so overwhelming she doesn’t know what to do. During the cry session with Paz, Angela hears a knock on the door and for that brief moment she hopes that it is Ghost. You know the scene. He comes to the door hat in hand, professing his love and apologizing for the hurt he caused, etc. Nope, sorry. That’s fantasy land and relationships don’t work that way. Instead, what Angela gets at the door is something much more real. So much of Ghost and Angela’s relationship was centered on hope of a better life together, forever. But, forever is a long time and the road to happily ever after is not a smooth one.
The botched Lobos escape plan has the entire task force being held for questioning by the Office of Professional Responsibility. The Department of Justice is a large entity with tremendous resources, its reach and powers extend far and wide. All files and correspondence related to the Lobos investigation, including laptops and cell phones have been seized. It doesn’t take long for the investigators to track the calls made by the cell phone recovered from Lobos’ body to the hits off the nearby cell tower. Those calls are then traced to the cell tower directly on top of the Department of Justice building where the Lobos tasks force works. It is clear that someone on the task force is dirty and the investigators will discover who it is.
This is fun for us as an audience because we know who the actual mole on the task force is. But we also have a backstory on all of the Lobos task force members. As is common in any drama, you develop favorites among the characters and root for some more than others for a variety of reasons. While Sandoval is the mole, we also know that Angela has done dirt that has impacted the case. We can convince ourselves that Angela’s sins were done in the name of love and loyalty to Ghost. But does that make her crimes more forgivable than Sandoval’s? Who, while he may have been feeding Lobos information directly (as opposed to indirectly like Angela) and for a longer time. His motivation to circumvent justice is the same as Angela’s. Sandoval loves his daughter and his family, and he doesn’t want them harmed. Whose love gets to win out in this scenario? Who do we decide had the right to commit illegal acts?
The way the interrogation scenes were edited was great, each answer and response leading to the next person, or in this case suspect. The investigators, played brilliantly by veteran character actors Tim Guinee and Arija Bareikis, had the right balance of cool temperament and self righteous smugness. During the intense interrogation sessions, Greg Knox was able to keep his cool. Despite the fact that he was stalking Angela and is being portrayed as a scorned ex-lover, he held firm to his belief that Angela was helping Ghost and she is who the investigators should be looking at. Knox has the facts on his side and while it may be true that he harbors resentment over losing Angela, what he wants more than anything is to prove his innocence and that Angela is dirty. In fact, when the main players on the task force realize Lobos is dead and are all pressed, they all point the investigators towards Angela. Now the heat is on Angela and she could face severe penalties, she needs to confront Ghost on the Lobos murder.
Meanwhile back on the Ghost and Tommy front things are getting worse. I mentioned last week that I thought Milan is much more interested in having Ghost and Tommy suffer, than being paid back for the stolen product. Last night’s episode seems like it is just the beginning. Milan forced Ghost and Tommy to come up with payment earlier than is customary which has jeopardized the Karen Bassett hotel deal. Which Milan still needs Ghost to make happen so he has more venues to move product. A tough task for Ghost given his legit cash flow issues. Milan has also made his way to the warehouse where Tommy was handling all the distribution and in a show of power had all of Tommy’s men tied up when they arrived.
In a plan to try and uncover Milan’s weakness Ghost employs Dre to look into the death of Tatiana, a former worker at Truth. Turns out she was never really dead and this was another move in the Milan power play over Ghost. A fact that becomes clear when Ghost is at the penthouse dealing with Tariq and finds out Milan and Tatiana have arrived for dinner. Ghost’s face when he sees them invade the place where his wife and kids live is chilling. For the first time, really all series, Ghost is terrified and doesn’t have any answers.
Tommy is still dealing with the death of Holly and finds out that she was pregnant, which leads him to a drunken night of self-loathing and regret. Tommy is punishing himself for what happened and is picked up by Milan’s men, presumably to be executed. Tommy is stripped naked and proceeds to be pummeled by Milan’s men. In true Tommy fashion he fight’s back but ultimately takes the ass kicking like a man.
Milan is not someone to be trifled with and Ghost and Tommy do not have their heads in the game. This is a man that knows everything about them and all their weaknesses. In order to stop this problem, the two former best friends need to eliminate distractions and step it up.
Three more episodes to go and it will be a wrap on season 3. Things have intensified and we’re setting up for a big finale.
A few extras thoughts:
- You see how Paz was eying up old boy?! “Hi Tim, nice to meet you!” Hilarious. She hates Ghost and will look to any warm body to encourage Angela to forget about Ghost.
- Tommy to Ghost: “I ain’t working with that Tony the Tiger looking motherf**ker Dre!” and “Motherf**ker googled the sh*t out of you!” Those were a couple good ones.
- The two investigators from the Office of Professional Responsibility have that jarring familiarity with each other. Remember how they shared the tomato during the breakfast scene, without breaking stride? That is unsettling to Sandoval and Collins. Particularly Sandoval who has much to worry about.
- Was Kanan sippin’ on Lean outside of Truth? That might prove to be important later on.
- Speaking of Kanan, he killed somebody’s granny! What’s going on there?
- Tariq was on one in this episode. He dropped an f bomb when talking to his mom and raised his hand to her. When confronted by his father he refers to Angela as his side b*tch. WOOOO! That boy is asking for it. That situation is a ticking time bomb. I’m convinced something is going to happen there.
- What are the interpersonal problems the investigators referred to when questioning Cooper Saxe?
- Interesting ploy by MJ (female investigator) when she approaches Angela in the ladies’ room. After her talk about eye fu**ing and ass grabbing, she appeals to Angela woman to woman. Angela is seriously starting to consider who she used to be and what she has given up for a man.
What do you all think? Get at me on Twitter @jshector Please share with your friends and people you think would enjoy the show. As always thanks for reading and visiting BSO. See you next week!